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No one—other than Jesus—has ever lived on this earth with a mission to save the entire world. No one has ever had an agenda as important as Christ. His mission was clear: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, NIV).

When we support a cause, we usually have to “sacrifice” something, whether it be our time, money or resources. That wasn’t the case with Jesus. His sacrifice was not based on materialistic things, but on His blood.

Spring Valley Academy begins construction of its new worship and performing arts center with a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, April 22, at 2:00 p.m. Spring Valley Academy is located at 1461 E. Spring Valley Road in Centerville.

The ceremony will start in the gymnasium prior to the groundbreaking at the new building site.

The worship and performing arts center will be built in three phases. The first phase will be approximately 11,000 square feet and will include a 425-seat chapel/auditorium space. Phases two and three will include space for the music department (band and choir rooms, offices, practice spaces) and a large atrium lobby.

The facility will be available for community use.

Cost for the first phase is approximately $5.5 million. Phase one construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed by spring 2018. Danis Building Construction Company will manage the construction. The New York design firm of EYP and the local architect LWC are collaborating on the design.

Read the April Visitor for stories about how, two years after the death of Freddie Gray, churches in Baltimore are ministering in hurting neighborhoods; how churches in Columbus are tangible touches of love to prisoner and prositutes; how Psalm 22 is a psalm for the cross, and more!

Several months ago, Don Russell’s doctor asked him to listen to his heartbeat and then his own.

“His heart was just the perfect ‘thump thump’ sound,” said Don, an 85-year old resident of Laurel, Md., and a member of Chesapeake Conference's Spencerville church in Silver Spring, Md. “When I listened to mine, it was sort of this squishy sound like blood trying to force its way through the valve.”

Why do we go to church on Saturday, and why is the Sabbath important?”

These were the kinds of questions Joksan Cedillo-Gomez wondered about and asked. However, he never got a satisfying answer. “Because it’s in the Bible. Twice!” he was told.

Later, as youth director of his church, he found himself repeating the same brief answers to his peers and other youth who came to him with questions.

After enrolling in the REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School last summer, he learned that the Sabbath invites us to experience a connection—in our relationship with God and each other. It’s a time where we can worship, fellowship and grow; a time of jubilee—where we are all equal, regardless of our socioeconomic status.

It could have had application to a person who was going through very difficult days. But it is not a psalm written out of illness or perplexing situation, it is a description of an execution. Renowned commentator Derek Kidner writes, “No incident recorded of David can begin to account for this. . . The language of the psalm defies a naturalistic explanation; the best account is in the terms used by Peter concerning another psalm of David: ‘Being therefore a prophet, . . . he foresaw and spoke of . . . the Christ’ (Acts 2:30f.).

José Cortés, New Jersey Conference president, was a young pastor when he was thrown into jail in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Cortés shares this story in one of the North American Division’s sharing books, Never Lose Hope. Read more about the book and our interview with Cortés below.

"Some of the tension that exists, exists because the peacemakers aren't providing the platforms for the conversations," said John T. Boston, II, lead pastor at Allegheny West Conference's Central church in Columbus, Ohio.